Policy News Update

BUSH ADMIN UNVEILS PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FY 2007

On February 6, President Bush released his proposed budget for fiscal
year (FY) 2007. The new budget proposes substantial increases for
physical sciences and engineering programs as part of an "American
Competitiveness Initiative" that was first previewed in the President's
State of the Union address as a response to a growing wave of concern
about the state of U.S. innovation. The three favored agencies of the
National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE) Office
of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) laboratories would receive substantial budget increases after
years of flat or declining funding.

But total federal basic and applied research investment (excluding
development) would decline 3.4 percent to $54.7 billion, meaning
increases for physical sciences and related research in DOE, NSF, and
NIST would be more than offset by cuts in the research investments of
other agencies.

NSF would benefit from the Administration's American Competitiveness
Initiative with a 7.9 percent boost in its total budget to $6.0 billion
in 2007. Most research directorates would receive increases between 5
and 9 percent after several years of flat or declining funding. In real
terms, funding for the Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Geosciences,
Biological Sciences, and the Social Sciences directorates would remain
below 2004 funding levels even after the 2007 increase, while the
Computer Sciences, Polar, and Engineering directorates would reach new
highs. The agency's Education and Human Resources directorate would
barely increase, to a level 20 percent below the 2004 budget in real
terms.

At the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, increased funds
for developing the next generation of human space vehicles would come at
the expense of research programs, such as what remains of its life
sciences program, proposed for a 56 percent cut after a 30 percent cut
in 2006.

Many R&D agencies would face steep cuts: the Environmental Protection
Agency's (R&D) portfolio would fall 7.2 percent, while Commerce's
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would see its R&D
funding decline 6.3 percent. R&D funding in the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS; down 4 percent) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA;
down 16.5 percent) would also fall.

SUPREME COURT HEARS WETLANDS CASES

Justices raised questions about the limits of government regulation of
wetlands, canals and seasonal streams as the Supreme Court heard oral
arguments in two cases that test the scope of the Clean Water Act.

In both -- Rapanos v. United States and Carabell v. U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers -- Michigan landowners contend that Congress never intended to
have authority over wetlands that are adjacent to or separated by
man-made berms from "navigable waters" or their tributaries. The Clean
Water Act uses "navigable waters" to accommodate the Interstate Commerce
Clause and identify wetlands under the purview of the Army Corps and the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The agencies have executed "limitless claims of jurisdiction" and
"boundless interpretations" of the statute, Rapanos' lawyer Reed Hopper
told the court. The oral arguments marked the first day on the bench for
Justice Samuel Alito Jr.

Asked by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg where he would draw the line,
Hopper said Congress intended to regulate navigable waters and adjacent
wetlands, but did not extend that to tributaries and wetlands that are
adjacent to nonnavigable waters.

John Rapanos, who is facing jail time and fines for destroying 50 acres
of wetlands, and the developers June and Keith Carabell, who want to
build condos on 16 acres regulated as wetlands, allege that the Army
Corps and EPA do not have authority to stop their projects.

Army Corps lawyer Paul Clement voiced concern that a ruling in favor of
property owners in the Rapanos and Carabell cases would not only make
hundreds of thousands of acres of wetlands and miles of streams more
vulnerable to filling and dredging, they would also lose protection
against polluters.

The rulings will come down to the interpretation of "ditch" and
"navigable," some legal experts say. A ruling is expected before the
court's summer recess.

The Ecological Society of America, Society of Wetland Scientists,
Estuarine Research Federation, and the American Society for Limnology
and Oceanography filed an Amicus ("Friend of the Court") Brief offering
the scientific perspective on wetlands for the Court's consideration.

LAWMAKERS RESPOND TO CLAIMS OF AGENCY CENSORSHIP

Lawmakers of both parties urged leaders at the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) to improve the ways the agency conveys
scientific information to the public.

The lawmakers were responding to a cascade of reports about efforts by
political appointees in the space agency's press office to restrict
interviews or alter news releases that might conflict with Bush
administration policies on pollution, global warming and other issues.

House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) said that
while NASA had responded well so far, it "still has a lot of work to do
to ensure openness."

The Committee's Ranking Member Bart Gordon (D-TN), said he was eager to
see Michael D. Griffin, the NASA Administrator, follow through on a
pledge he made to the agency's 19,000 employees on February 3 to review
its communications policies.

Public scrutiny of NASA's press office heated up in January, when the
director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Dr. James
Hansen, claimed the Bush Administration tried to prevent him from
publicly calling for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, after he gave a
lecture on the subject in December 2005. He said the Administration
ordered NASA public affairs staff to review his upcoming lectures,
papers, and postings on the Goddard website and requests for interviews
from journalists. Since Dr. Hansen's accusations, other researchers at
the agency have described how political appointees altered or limited
news releases on scientific findings that could have conflicted with
administration policies.

Moreover, other federal agencies are finding their policies under high
scrutiny, as claims of scientific censorship have begun radiating beyond
NASA. "The Hansen situation unfortunately is not isolated," Rep. Gordon
said. "Scientific censorship permeates this administration."

For example, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), scientists are not allowed "to speak to reporters or present
papers at meetings without departmental review or approval," Science
editor Don Kennedy wrote in an editorial in the February 17 Science.

The claims of censorship at NOAA prompted an all-staff e-mail from
agency Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher praising NASA's move to address
the Hansen allegations and reminding employees that NOAA's "media
standards also reflect an open policy." He encouraged scientists to
"speak freely and openly."

BUSH ADMIN PROPOSES GULF OF MEXICO LEASING PLAN

The Bush administration's plan to open 2 million acres in the Gulf of
Mexico to oil and gas drilling met with strong opposition by Florida
lawmakers and by industry groups that feel the plan does not go far
enough.

Oil and gas leases would be sold in the Lease Sale 181 area off
Florida's Gulf Coast under the Minerals Management Service's (MMS) draft
five-year plan for development on the outer continental shelf (OCS). The
OCS proposal also includes calls for new studies of resource development
in the southern gulf, in the Atlantic Ocean off Virginia and part of the
North Aleutian Basin off the coast of Alaska.

Johnnie Burton, MMS director, said the need for the potential 3.4
trillion cubic feet of natural gas outweighs the environmental concerns
of Florida Governor Jeb Bush (R) and the state's congressional
delegation since the administration agreed not to allow oil and gas
development in Lease Sale 181 as part of the previous five-year plan.

The Administration's proposal for leasing 2 million acres of the 181
area is now one of three plans to address the issue, competing with one
from the Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
and another from Florida's U.S. senators.

The MMS proposal for Lease Sale 181 is smaller than the area proposed
for oil and gas leasing under legislation proposed by Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM), who said he
plans to go ahead with his bill that would require the Interior
Department to begin offering leases in a portion of the Lease Sale 181
area off the Florida coast within one year.

Florida Senators Mel Martinez (R) and Bill Nelson (D) have proposed
competing legislation to extend the drilling moratorium in the eastern
Gulf of Mexico, including most of the 181 region. This measure, however,
would not prevent development on roughly 700,000 acres in the area's
southwest portion.

EUROPE FAILING TO STOP SPECIES DECLINE, REPORT SAYS

Europe is falling behind on goals to protect wildlife and must expand
its efforts in order to meet a 2010 goal for biodiversity, according to
a report released by the U.N. Environment Programme and Council of
Europe.

The report said Europe has failed to follow through on eight of nine
pledges made by 53 countries in 2003 to curb species loss by 2010. "It
is clear that achieving the 2010 biodiversity target in Europe requires
not only a redoubling of efforts in implementing the objectives ... but
more specifically, a firm commitment by the parties to act," the report
said.

The report acknowledged one pledge as fulfilled: the preservation of
lands through national parks and historical areas. Thirty percent of
Europe's lands remain covered by forests.

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